May 6, 2015, Neuro-Gaming Conference, San Francisco—Adam Gazzaly from UCSF talked about the technological and societal changes that will come out of the current research into the brain and its functions. The current lack of deep understanding compared to other physical functions will come about.
In physical fitness and other related physical investigations, there are lots of options, education, and research into measurable parameters. Adjacent areas like kinesiology and wellness are able to show strong correlation and causality for interventions and changes in behaviors. The brain, however, is missing this level of detail.
Although ongoing research has identified broad areas of the brain where physical and mental functions correlate to brain activity, we have very little understanding of the cognitive processes. To exacerbate the problem, much of the research is in separate areas leading to silos of research and understanding. We need to change this incoherent situation to targeted, networked, multi-modal, and closed-loop works.
The need for a wide range of research and greater collaboration is that brains are very individual and aggregated research can only provide a one-size-fits-all response. The high complexity and interactivity within the brain require a change from snapshots of brain activity to a multi-modal, real-time, closed-loop type of testing to eliminate long lag times and overlapping responses.
One possible approach is to incorporate medical research into video games. The game engines would change complexity and difficulty in response to the player's game play and allow research into mind changes. This type of applied research could use the underlying mechanics of game engines to address areas like neuro-plasticity as a functions of the game play. The mechanics of the game would be adaptable to the feedback from measurements of parameters like stress and engagement.
In this way we can use games to deliver diagnostic testing to many users without the need for lots of dedicated and intrusive measurement equipment. The mechanics to change behaviors that lead to brain changes are relatively well understood, and changes in the environment through game adaptivity or near real-time feedback can be very powerful. The immersiveness of games can enhance the effects of the feedback.
The availability of multiple types of sensors in consumer-accessible devices that can be networked together can provide many different types and accuracy of measurements. Adding in neuro-performance features through modulation and feedback can provide as much or more information on brain function as more invasive equipment like a fMRI.
The availability of near real-time MRIs has revolutionized our understanding of brain functions and has localized areas of the brain that are involved with various functions and emotions. The addition of multi-channel sensors like a 54 channel eeg allows the researcher the ability to localize activity and correlate those activities to other functions. These parameters are the inputs that will change the underlying mechanics in the game engines.
Good results and provable efficacy require a closed-loop system. The data activates the network in selective ways, allowing the game to respond to performance and sensory changes to improve mental abilities. The EEG data are used for feedback into the game and also used to drive transcranial stimulation. Together, the feedback and stimulation can help by creating changes in the brain which allow for lower or discontinued drug doses.
Some labs are experimenting withholder adults with custom video games to help with problems associates with aging. Areas like attention, working memory, and goal management all interact and all seem to decline with age. The multi-modal games encourage trading off energy for attention to memory or goal setting. The forced multi-tasking couples up many brain functions to improve all phases of mental performance and allows the user to level up in the game and in every day performance. The results seem to stick for extended periods.
The whole issue of multi-tasking performance drops for everyone. Tests on 20-year olds showed a 27 percent drop in task switching performance over 10 years. This drop continues to 63 percent by the time you are 70. The drop in task switching performance is related to changes in the prefrontal cortex, so the games provide a major improvement which also transfers to the working memory and attention span.
Neural functions need pre-and post-training testing to determine efficacy. The evidence indicates that this type of training can be very disruptive as immersive games can change many areas like education, healthcare, etc. The combination of EEG guiding game mechanics and stimulation can be very powerful. They have developed some diagnostics and therapeutics with Akili Interactive sensor arrays that are now starting FDA-level trials.
All together, the new technologies are becoming the basis for the UCSF neuro-scope lab that is dong work with multiple sensors and games. some of the new games in development are addressing meditation, rhythmicity, and virtual attention. The work looks at many facets of body-brain training and kinesiology. They area trying to avoid silos by addressing neurological cross-fit training. The next 10 years will see technology directed towards more mental conditions that are big problems today. Some of these include PTSD, Alzheimer's, MS, and many others.
